Borjomi

May 9th was Victory Day, when Georgians, and many others, celebrate the USSR's WWII victory.  With a three-day weekend made available to us, the travel family decided that it was time to hit Borjomi.  Borjomi is a resort town where the tsars, and then later the Soviet elite, would vacation.  It is also known for its mineral water, which is salty, bubbly and sworn by all Georgians to be the cure for too much chacha.  We arranged for a homestay and planned to spend time in Borjomi National Park as well as the Mineral Water Park and also take a side trip to Vardzia, a huge cave city about 3 hours ways by car (2 with Georgian  driving style).  Perfect plan for a three-day weekend.

Netty and I planned to have the Tbilisi folks meet us in Gori and we would hop on the first marshutka at 9:30 am all together and make our way to Borjomi, which is only about an hour and a half from Gori.  We had our doubts that Mallory, Jeremy, Frankie and Rob would make into Gori in time to catch our ride, but alas they proved us wrong.  We were certain, or at least very optimistic, that the first marshutka on Saturday morning was at 9:30 am.  After all, we had asked our co-teachers, our families, I even made a special trip to ask the marshutka drivers themselves.  However, upon arrival at the marshutka station, which also doubles as a taxi stand and large market, it appeared that there was no marshutka until 12:40 pm.  Oh mey (Georgian for "oh my god"... or something to that effect).  Netty and I spent some time in broken Georgian, Russian and English trying to straighten things out, but when the rest of our group arrived and a driver saw all six of us, he went over to his van, switched the sign to Borjomi, asked for $5 lari a head, and off we went.  I love this country.

After we settled into the homestay we decided to go for a walk/hike in the national park.  It was a chilly and rainy day, but we decided it was not a big deal.  We stopped at the Borjomi tourist center for a map.  The man there spoke perfect English and eagerly shared all the attractions and entertainment options with us.  (Spoiler alert, there is no bar night scene in Borjomi, so entertainment means hiking and bathing in salt water.)  Off we went with our map.  Our merry band of travelers, being who we are, managed to take a small, unplanned "detour," i.e. not the most direct route, through the town.  There was an animated scene where Frankie and Rob discussed a sign and analyzed which direction it was pointing as the rest of us watched from across the street.  Many big gestures where involved: shrugging, pointing, head scratching, more pointing.  We then asked a friendly police officer.  Our languages failed us and in the end we just picked a direction. Alas it was the right one.

The office for the national park is about ten times larger than the Borjomi tourist office and a very helpful woman provided us with information and allowed us to leave our excess belongings behind.  Off we went through the forest.  Our merry band of travelers managed to take a "detour," i.e. not the trail, and follow a little stream for a while.  It was a beautiful and stunningly green. 

Borjomi National Park

Borjomi National Park

Borjomi National Park

After a few hours of walking through the woods, we decided it was time for dry shoes (I cannot retype here the words I used each time I managed to step in that darling little stream.) and some food.  We stopped at the homestay to change and then made our way to the tavern where all the locals go. 

Upon arrival at Tavern Nia we saw that it was just us and a group of about six men.  After some beers it was time for the dancing with our new Georgian friends to begin, stopping only to eat our dinner.  There is really no more quintessential Georgian experience than dancing with strangers to Shakira.  After the bar literally ran out of beer -not our fault, we only had two each - we headed out into the night.  It was barely 9 pm, but there was nowhere else to go but home.  So we went back and played some card games.

Dancing

Dancing

The next morning we got up early to make our way to Vardzia.  We haggled with some taxi drivers and negotiated a price for the daylong journey.  The original plan was for us to take one car. However, our attempt to fit four in the back and two in the front was...uncomfortable.  We took the leap and hired a second car.  Thank god.  I brought along my ipod for the long drive.  Pre-war Lonely Planet had promised the drive to Vardzia would be spectacular, that was no exaggeration.  Pictures really do not do it justice.  We wove through rocky mountains and green hills, the heavy rain that day made everything even more brilliant and richly colored.  Paired with my flawless soundtrack, highlights include The Stranglers, Tom Petty, Jeff Buckley, and David Bowie, the drive was the highlight of my weekend.

Upon arrival in Vardzia I was grinning from ear to ear.  "I'm so happy!" I said.  "Uh, yeah we can tell," said Mallory.

Vardzia is a cave city dating back to the 12th century, it features multiple levels and hundreds of rooms, many churches, and even a working monastery.  In 1283 there was a huge earthquake and the outer walls were shaken away, vastly reducing its size. Its amazing to think this huge network of caves was once even larger.  Our merry band of travelers spent two hours weaving in and out of rooms, climbing rocks, walking down dark tunnels, smacking our heads on low ceilings, and enjoying the views.  At one point the heavy rain started up again and we all sat and watched from the inside of the cave.  We eventually made our way back down to our cars and headed back to Borjomi.

Vardzia

Vardzia

Khertvisi Fortress

We made a quick stop at Khertvisi Fortress and climbed the castle walls and wandered in and out of the ruins.

The next day was our last day.  After lazily sitting in the sun on the balcony of our homestay and waving to the tiny, but enthusiastic, Victory Day parade that drove by, we decided to make a picnic and then go swimming in the mineral water park. After gathering our picnic supplies we somehow lost inspiration for carrying our mountains of food into the woods and we settled into the city square for our feast.  After we chowed down on pickles, olives, cucumbers, tomatoes, lavash, cheese, and kalbasa, we decided to go swimming.  Upon arrival at the mineral park, we immediately regretted not picnicking there.  The entry point to the park is a children's amusement park.  A bit creepy in the off season, but the rest of the surroundings are perfect for a lazy day in the sun.  We walked about three kilometers up to the mineral pool. This required maneuvering over some "bridges" and encouraging some cows to unblock our path.  I was worried we would arrive at some cheesy swimming pool, but much to my delight it was a simple concrete, no-nonsense pool.  We all jumped in and splashed around in the warm sulfur water for a bit.  But it soon came time to hurry back and catch the marshutka.  We made our way back through the cow paths and over the bridges, past the abandoned kiddie rides and out of the park.

Swimming hole.

After a quick stop for ice cream, we were on our way back to big city life, with nothing but happy memories and sunburns.  And oh yeah, hundreds of pictures.